The Legend of the Seven Brothers Part 1: The Arrival
by Alun Aleriksson
Summary: Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

The Legend of the Seven Brothers

Prologue

Princess Celestia nodded silently to her sister, Luna. They both understood what had to be done next, and were confident their subjects would be up to the task. Celestia had never been prouder of her star student, Twilight Sparkle. She and her friends from Ponyville had once again beaten all odds and succeeded at their seemingly impossible mission in the Crystal Empire, and another window in the palace had been turned to stained glass depicting their accomplishment. Princess Celestia allowed herself a small smile and a deep breath of the cool, fresh air before turning back into the palace, where she would no doubt have more papers to sign. Luna followed close behind.

"Should we tell them, sister?"

"Not yet," the elder answered. "They've earned a few days rest. The time will come soon."

Luna nodded her agreement, and the black spiral bound notebook she had been holding with her magic disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- MLP: FiM does not, in any way, belong to me.

Chapter 1

Back in Ponyville, the entire town was preparing for the inevitable Pinkie party that was about to ensue. The town hall had been decked out with streamers and balloons in so many different colors it almost hurt to look at it for too long. Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies were being ferried in by the cartload, directed by Mr. and Mrs. Cake themselves. The center of the hall had been cleared to make an enormous dance floor, complete with giant stereo system manned by DJ Scratch. The pink purveyor of parties was busy bouncing around and moving her mouth at approximately 100.5 miles per hour.

"Omigosh this is gonna be the biggest, most wonderful, stupendous, huge-a-rific party EVER! Can you guys believe we saved a whole empire? Not just any empire but the Crystal Empire! I mean, how many ponies can say they saved an empire? Well, it was mostly Spike that did the saving but still! My favorite part was the flugelhorn. Oh! And the crystal berries and the jousting and the…"

The remaining five best friends expressed their excitement in slightly different fashions.

Rainbow Dash was looping around, re-living her favorite moments in her head. "Did you see how awesome I looked in that armor? Those crystal ponies really know how to have a good time."

Rarity and Applejack were slightly more modest. Rarity was still disappointed her crystal mane had disappeared. Applejack, on the other hoof, was glad she hadn't stayed like that; she had lost her beloved hat to the crystal transition.

Fluttershy, as usual, did not do a lot of talking, but smiled and enjoyed her friends company.

Twilight was simply relieved that the Princess had understood the circumstances and permitted her to continue her studies. Not only that, but she had also said something about moving on to the next level of her studies! Twilight couldn't wait to learn more about her favorite subject from her favorite teacher, and had told her friends as much.

"That's great, Twilight. I know y'all'll do just fine," Applejack said in her southern accent.

"Yes, of course, darling. We all have complete faith in you," was Rarity's contribution.

"Thanks, girls. I couldn't have made it this far without you." Twilight blushed slightly.

Pinkie defused the sappiness of the situation in an instant by popping into the conversation out of nowhere. "C'mon, girls! No time for debatin', let's get to celebratin'!"

The others heartily agreed.

The entire town participated in the festivities; town hall practically vibrated from the energy and excitement emanating from the various ponies. The music thumped along in sync with the crowd, until the building seemed it might collapse from bass waves pounding against its structure. There was happiness and joy in abundance that night for the residents of Ponyville as they played, talked, laughed, and danced the night away.

However, even Pinkie's parties had to come to a close, and as the night wore on, the crowd started to disperse. In just a few hours, Pinkies constant dancing, playing, and merry-making had tired out most of the town, leaving the six friends on their own while the DJ packed up, bobbing her head to a tune in her headphones.

They gathered in the center of the town hall to rest from and discuss yesterday's events.

"I wonder what Princess Celestia meant when she said 'the next level of my studies,'" Twilight said to no pony in particular.

"I bet it's some super-awesome magic only the princesses know about!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"More powerful than friendship and the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight sounded dubious.

"Maybe it's some other way t' use the Elements," Applejack suggested.

"That sounds reasonable," Rarity suggested. "I simply cannot imagine why they would need to be more powerful, though."

"Yeah! We already beat Nightmare Moon and Discord; who's next?" Rainbow took a fighting stance and jabbed at thin air.

"Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games! Umm… how about ghosts? Leprechauns? No, wait! A pony that only has three legs, cant see out of one eye, has two stuffed animals called Chico and Rooster, and plays the accordion in his free time!" Pinkie stopped to take a breath, and her friends stared at her.

"That was… oddly specific." Twilight remarked.

"Why ever would we have to fight somepony like that darling?" Rarity asked.

"I dunno, maybe he doesn't know how to make friends and we have to show him!"

There was a pause as the group decided how exactly to react to Pinkie's theory, until Fluttershy suddenly yawned.

"Oh! Um… excuse me," she pleaded.

"Ain't no problem, sugarcube," Applejack reassured her. "Ah reckon we're all a might tired from all the things we been doin' lately."

"Not me!" Rainbow Dash interjected.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Almost all of us," She corrected herself.

Tired or not, the others agreed they needed a good night's rest. They bade each other goodnight and went their separate ways to their respective homes.

-XXX-

Twilight groaned as she woke up the next morning. She could still feel last night's party in her muscles; dancing like she did for extended periods of time had its consequences. She rolled out of bed and walked to her vanity to brush her hair like she always did. When she deemed herself decent, she descended the staircase in her library home and found the checklist for the day she had left on the round table in the middle of the room last night.

"Item one:" it said. "Check the day's checklist." Twilight scanned the parchment to see what she had to do for the day, and then crossed off the first item and moved on to the next one; "Finish summarizing Chapter 1 of 'Magic Through the Ages.'"

"Easy enough," she said to herself, and began working.

Spike woke up about an hour later and assigned himself the task of reorganizing the books Twilight had left strewn across the floor in her desperate attempt to study for the Princess' "test." He tried to make conversation as he worked.

"So, didja like the party?"

"Of course I did, Spike. Parties are Pinkies special talent, after all," Twilight said shortly and continued writing. "Just… about… done!" She punctuated her last sentence with a stab of her quill and checked off the corresponding item on her checklist. She turned around to see Spike struggling with a ladder and levitated the books up to the shelf with magic. Spike sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Twilight. I don't know what we'd do without magic!" He said. "It's a good thing you're a unicorn!"

Twilight giggled. "I'm sure we'd manage without it, Spike. Lots of ponies do."

Spike shrugged. "Still, it makes life a lot easier."

Just then, Twilights stomach growled. "How about some breakfast?" She opened the door with magic.

"Oh boy! Food!" Spike hurried out the door. Twilight rolled her eyes and followed.

As usual, breakfast consisted of flowers and other leafy greens. Twilight reviewed her checklist once more to affirm what she needed to do next: help with the cleanup of town hall from the party yesterday.

When she and Spike arrived at the scene, she couldn't help but agree with Spike's earlier comment about magic making life easier. Pinkie's party had really done a number on the building; streamers and balloons littered the rafters, and glitter and confetti covered the ground. The inside wasn't much better. Tables coated with crumbs and other food scraps were scattered around; one had even been flipped over somehow. Pegasi hovered near the ceiling to detach streamers and other decorations, letting them float down to the earth ponies and unicorns waiting below.

"Ponyville sure knows how to party," Twilight commented. Her horn lit up, and the tables arranged themselves neatly along the back wall. A few earth ponies swept the crumbs into buckets and bowls so they could be fed to the birds and other small animals that populated the area. Twilight then folded the tablecloths and tables and stacked them onto a waiting cart with ease. Spike busied himself with collecting fallen banners and streamers, which he placed in a different cart. With most of the town working, the party was brought down even faster that it had been set up. Twilight smiled and made a mark on her list. She noticed Rarity finishing up with her corner of the cleanup and trotted over.

Rarity didn't respond to her approach at first. She turned around and started when she practically ran into Twilight. "Oh! Hello, Twilight. I didn't see you there."

"Wow, you did a great job fixing this up, Rarity!"

"Yes, I suppose it will do, until Pinkie finds another reason to involve the entire town in a celebration, at least." Rarity began walking back outside.

"I'm sure she will." Twilight decided to follow Rarity. Spike was on her heels, but his attention was focused on another unicorn.

They ran into Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were toting a cart and clearing some stray clouds, respectively. Rainbow swooped down to talk. "Hey guys! What's happenin'?"

Twilight answered first. "Well, I don't know about Rarity, but I'm going back to the library to start reading the next chapter of my book!" She was genuinely excited.

Her friends hesitated a beat. "That sounds… fun," Rainbow opened her wings back up and hovered a few feet above the ground. She was about to take off into the sky when she remembered something. "Oh yeah! Applejack invited us all over for lunch in a few hours; apparently they have some extra apple cobbler, but you better get there before I eat it all!"

"Of course," the friends chorused.

Twilight returned to the library and settled herself down to read the second chapter of "Magic Through the Ages" for the first time, to familiarize herself with the general subject of the chapter. The next two read-throughs would be more comprehensive, and after the third one she could start summarizing. She flipped to the correct page with her magic and began reading:

"Now that we have a concrete definition of what magic is and what it does, we can move on to the known History. The origins of magic are quite obscure, though many historians agree the answer lies in a 'Tale of Seven Brothers,' who, according to legend, created magic thousands of years ago…"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- If I were a rich man, I still wouldn't own MLP: FiM.

Chapter 2

Ever since her sister had shown it to her a few weeks ago, Luna had pored over the small black notebook, fascinated. Strange symbols adorned the margins, depicting an ancient style of magic that had been long forgotten by ponykind. Incantations in unspeakable languages described spells designed to control time and space in ways even Starswirl the Bearded never dreamed was possible. Luna had asked Celestia where she had gotten the book, but all she had said was "don't lose it." So Luna had studied it the best she could. She couldn't understand most of it, but she did recognize some characters, namely, her and her sister's cutie marks, the sun and the moon, near the end of the book. She also saw something that she thought might represent the Elements of Harmony, but she couldn't be sure. The rest was complete gibberish. When she asked her sister about it, Celestia admitted that she couldn't understand much of it either, but she showed Luna a page that had been marked, with what looked like instructions written in sloppy, but discernable ponyish.

"_When the time is right, you will know, inscribe the circle drawn below, in a stone of near perfection, spreading magic in all directions. Chant the words of power unnamed, to release a strength untamed. The Elements assembled, to receive, knowledge beyond their wildest dreams."_

"All right, now what the hay does that mean?" Luna had asked.

Celestia had done her best to explain. "I believe it means that Twilight and her friends may be in for an adventure. These circles are designed to channel and focus magical energy, so when we activate this one at the right time, with the spirits of the Elements present, it should do something."

"Something… like what?"

"That, I do not know. Something to do with 'strength untamed' and 'knowledge beyond their wildest dreams,' it seems."

After the test she had given her student in the Crystal Empire, Celestia had finally decided that the time was right.

-XXX-

Twilight completed her first reading of the chapter and glanced at the clock mounted on her wall. Almost noon. Perfect. Twilight closed her book and told Spike she was leaving for Sweet Apple Acres.

She arrived just as Rainbow Dash zoomed overhead, circled once, and landed. Applejack was setting an outdoor table with various apple-themed dishes, including the apple cobbler Rainbow had mentioned.

"Hey, y'all. Glad ya could make it," Applejack greeted the two.

"Are you kidding? Wouldn't have missed it!" Dash stared hungrily at the table. "I don't know what to eat first!"

"It looks delicious, Applejack!"

"Aww, thank ya kindly, Twilight. Ah had some help from the family, o' course."

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were the next to arrive. Pinkie Pie immediately dove for the apple pie, while Fluttershy held back.

"Thank you for inviting us, Applejack," she said.

"Don't mention it, sugarcube. Now dig in!"

"So, Twilight, you have fun reading your book?" Rainbow was only half teasing: she already knew the answer.

"Why yes, I did. I actually found something very interesting about the beginnings of magic: apparently it had to be 'created' or something like that. I have to read it again."

"Ah thought unicorns could always do magic." Applejack stated. She and Fluttershy were the only ones paying any attention to Twilight; Rainbow had gone back to her food after the first sentence of the answer.

"Not according to most historians. The book said something about seven brothers _creating_ magic. I'm not sure what it means, though."

"That is amazing," Fluttershy said. "Pegasi have always had wings, so even the first of us were able to fly. Haven't unicorns always had horns?"

Twilight had to think for a long time. "I don't know anymore. If magic had to be created, who knows? We might all be descended from earth ponies."

"Ha! Darn tootin'!" Applejack exclaimed.

Just then, Rarity arrived, sporting one of her new custom sun hats. "Terribly sorry I'm late, Applejack; Opal was being an absolute horror with her bath." She shuddered.

"Don't fret none, Rarity. Plenty fer all o' ya."

-XXX-

Half an hour later, six stuffed ponies spread themselves out on the grass (in Rarity's case, a blanket) to bask in the warm sunlight. Sleep threatened the consciousness of more than one, and those that weren't sleepy enjoyed the rest and comfort the sun provided.

"Can I just stay here for the rest of the day?" Rainbow sighed.

Applejack laughed. "If'n ya want. Ah ain't gonna be the one t' kick ya out."

Twilight was mentally conflicted. She wanted to get back home to re-read chapter two to get a better understanding of why magic needed to be "created," but she also did not want to get up. Ultimately, the lazy side of her brain won, and she closed her eyes and allowed herself to rest.

All of a sudden, the brightness shining through her eyelids dimmed as a shadow passed over her. "Ugh, Rainbow, I thought you cleared all the clouds." She grumbled.

"I did," the Pegasus responded, her pride slightly wounded. "There's not a cloud in the sky, Twilight."

"Then what was…?" Twilight opened her eyes to see a white carriage with gold trim pulled by four pegasi soaring overhead toward the village. In its half-asleep state, her brain took a moment to register exactly what it was. She gasped. "The Princess!"

The other five sat up, a collective "huh?" expression on their faces. Twilight was already up and galloping back to Ponyville. She didn't know why the Princess would arrive unannounced, but as her student and subject, she had a duty to greet and welcome her.

The carriage screeched to a halt in the middle of Ponyville's main road, and the rulers of Equestria dismounted gracefully. Luna was again holding the small black book. The sisters walked right through the town, directly to the tree that served as a library. Celestia knocked on the door, which was answered by Spike.

"It's your own house, Twilight. You don't have to- ahh! Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" The dragon bowed low.

"Hello, Spike. Is Twilight home?"

"I'm here, Princess!" The purple unicorn ran up to the library, her friends a few lengths behind her. They all bowed out of respect before continuing. "May I ask what brings you to Ponyville?"

"As usual, it is something involving you six," Celestia replied. "We need to talk. To all of you." Spike moved aside, and the group entered the library.

-XXX-

Twilight spoke first. "Does this have to do with the next level of my studies?"

"It does indeed," Celestia motioned to Luna, who stepped forward with the book. "This text is very old, and very powerful. We think it will help you and your friends."

The book floated down to Twilight's eye level, and she supported it with her magic, opening to the first page. She flipped page after page, confusion spreading across her face with each successive turn. "Um… Princess, I cant read any of this."

The tome glowed yellow as Celestia showed her student the script written in a language she could understand.

"Circle below… stone of perfection… power unnamed… elements assembled… wildest dreams…" Twilight murmured to herself as she read. "But what does _ that_ mean?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Luna spoke up.

"Why, that's easy!" Rarity proclaimed. "A 'stone of perfection' can only refer to a diamond!"

Celestia nodded; that made sense.

"What about these 'words of power unnamed?'" Twilight asked.

"Friendship is magic?" Rainbow Dash guessed.

Celestia shook her head this time. "That's what we thought at first, too, but it doesn't seem to fit. We already know the power of friendship, as demonstrated by all of you."

"We think there's something else," Luna added. "A different power."

Applejack went straight to the point. "So we draw this here circle in a diamond and say some stuff, then what?"

"We don't know," Celestia admitted. "This has never been done before."

Twilight inspected the circle in question again. It was very simple: the outer circle had a curvy S shape across the diameter, with two smaller circles flanking the sides of the S. Twilight felt as if she had seen this symbol, or something like it, but she couldn't remember where. "Princess Celestia, where did this book come from?"

"I found it in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of the Archives. Your time spell blew some old scrolls off of it, and I gave it to Luna for safekeeping. I didn't even know it existed a few weeks ago."

"Do you know how old it is?"

"Hmm. I've never seen these spells or languages before, and if this book is before mine and Luna's time, it is very old, indeed."

"Origins of magic old?" Twilight pressed.

The princess paused. "Perhaps. Why do you ask?"

"My book!" Twilight exclaimed.

Rainbow wasn't the only one to roll her eyes. "Of course," she muttered.

Twilight either didn't hear her or ignored her very well. "Princess," she began. "Does the Legend of Seven Brothers mean anything to you?"

"Where did you read that?"

Twilight levitated the book she had been reading just that morning. It was the princess's turn to mumble to herself as she read.

"Interesting," she passed the book on to Luna so she could read it. "I have heard that story before, but I didn't realize it might be known to any historians."

"That still doesn't tell us the words of power," Rainbow pointed out.

Twilight sighed. She was right. The book didn't offer any clues for any "words of power," as far as she knew. It seemed the history of magic wasn't going to help the situation.

There was a long awkward silence as the group considered what to do next. Nopony had any suggestions.

Luna flipped to the next page in the chapter and noticed something. "Sister, look! This is the same hoofwriting as in the notebook!"

Celestia brought the two volumes together to compare. Luna was right. The history book showed an "ancient mantra" written in the same strange letters as the black notebook. Celestia couldn't believe that was a coincidence. She showed the old ponyish to Twilight, as well.

"As above, so below?" The unicorn read. "But that doesn't make any-"

A blaze of blue-white light interrupted her. It was coming from the black book. It burned brighter and brighter, until the book caught fire, extinguishing the light and replacing it with flame. Celestia acted quickly. An inkwell flew through the air to put the fire out, but the damage had been done. The fire had burned a large hole through most of the book.

"Oh, no! I'm so so so so so sorry!" Twilight immediately took the blame. "I didn't know-"

"Of course you didn't," Celestia reassured her student. "This is not your fault. In fact, I think you may have helped us out quite a bit, Twilight."

"What?"

"Those must have been the words of power you spoke," the princess continued. "You activated the circle and the magic burned the paper."

"That was so cool! I can't wait till we do the real thing; it's gonna be so pretty!" Pinkie Pie literally jumped for joy.

"Pretty scary, maybe," Fluttershy corrected.

"There are still a few things we need to do this properly," Twilight turned to her friend. "Do you have a diamond we can use, Rarity?"

"I've got just the thing! Wait here, I'll get it."

"Now hold on a minute," Applejack stopped her before she could leave. "This is the kinda thing we oughta be doin' outside, ya think? Ah mean, that little thing there coulda burned us all alive."

"That might be wise." The princess stated. "We don't know what exactly is going to happen, or how powerful this magic truly is. We may even have to perform the spell outside of Ponyville."

"Where else are we gonna go? The Everfree Forest?" Rainbow asked.

The group fell silent. After witnessing what the small circle had done to the book, there was an air of caution, even fear, toward the prospect of performing the actual spell, and nopony volunteered to host the event.

Luna came up with a solution first. "The palace gardens might provide ample space if we evacuate the guards and clear the gathering area. Plus, the palace is magically protected anyway, right, sister?"

Celestia considered this. "That just might work. Very well, then." She unfolded her wings and addressed the ponies assembled before her. "It seems we all have preparations to make before this is carried out. We shall return to Canterlot and get the garden ready, while you six gather your things here. We will expect you in Canterlot tomorrow morning. Oh! And don't forget to bring your Elements with you."

"What should we do about the book?" Twilight indicated the mostly charred mass on her table.

The regal sisters looked at each other. "We may as well take it back with us. Some of it may be salvageable." Luna decided. With that, the rulers of Equestria took their leave.

The towns ponies bowed as the sisters passed. Even the Pegasi pulling the carriage showed their respect. The six friends watched them take off into the sky from the library entrance until Twilight snapped back into control.

"Alright, girls, you heard the Princess; pack your bags. We leave for Canterlot tomorrow!"

Her words were met with cheers and enthusiasm, and Pinkie Pie threw some confetti into the air. The other five still didn't know where her party supplies actually came from.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I may not own MLP, but I do own my OCs.

Chapter 3

The next morning couldn't come fast enough for the small group of friends. Applejack had beaten the rooster awake; and Rainbow had uncharacteristically woken up before that. Pinkie Pie and Twilight had barely slept at all. Even Rarity admitted a lack of proper beauty sleep. Fluttershy was apparently the only pony that had gotten a full night of rest.

Twilight ran through some last minute checks before the train arrived: Rarity had the gemstone, and everypony had remembered their respective Element of Harmony.

The conversation on the train was a discussion about what would happen when the circle was activated.

"I bet there's gonna be a big fireworks show, with rockets and explosions!" Rainbow said.

"I hope not," Twilight countered. "That would set more than a book on fire."

"Canterot's done fireworks before," Rainbow argued back.

"But the Princess said she'd never done _this_ before," Fluttershy reasoned.

"Yeah," Applejack agreed. "Doesn't it bother y'all that were tryin' a spell not even the Princesses have done?"

"Puh-leeze. That just means we go down in history as the first ones to do it!" Rainbow was optimistic.

"We have to trust the Princess' judgment. The book exists, so we might as well find out what it does." Twilight was reassuring herself as much as her friend.

"I think it's a portal to another dimension that's gonna open up and the sea monkeys are gonna come through to teach us how to breath underwater!"

"Pinkie Pie, you are _so_ random,"

-XXX-

The train reached Canterlot, and the friends headed for the palace. The garden had been cleared to create a large, open field. The princesses were waiting near the center. The six ponies approached and bowed briefly.

"Good morning, girls. Are you ready?" Celestia asked.

In response, the six equipped their Elements. Five necklaces and a tiara gleamed in the early morning sun. Rarity also produced the diamond that was to be used. The jewel was almost as large as Twilights hoof, and expertly cut; the interior seemed to overflow with rainbows.

"Excellent," Celestia took the diamond and examined its beauty. "This is certainly nearly flawless."

"So how does this work again?" Applejack was still concerned about the consequences of the spell.

Luna answered her briefly. "We carve this circle," she drew in the dirt with her hoof, "into the diamond, say the words of power, and stand back."

"Don't concern y'all none that we don't know what exactly's gonna happen?"

"Of course it does. We may not know what is going to happen, but this isn't much different than other spell experiments that have been performed in the past. We have taken the necessary precautions; in addition to the protective magic outside the palace, Princess Luna and I will create a bubble of magic to contain the spell to this area."

Applejack took a deep breath. "Ah trust ya, Princess."

Celestia nodded her thanks, and began to magically carve the strange symbol into the diamond. In a little while, the circle from the book had been reproduced and immortalized in the jewel. The princesses took positions opposite each other as the six friends surrounded the diamond, forming a circle about ten feet away from the center.

Twilight glanced around to make sure everypony was ready. She steadied her breathing and spoke the words of power she had learned yesterday. "As above, so below,"

The circle in the diamond glowed the same blue-white as it had before, lighting up the inside and turning the ground into a sparkling expanse of glittering light. As soon as it started, though, it stopped.

"Is that it?" Rainbow Dash was noticeably disappointed.

The other ponies assembled shared the sentiment.

"What went wrong?" Twilight asked frantically. "Is there something else? Something we missed?"

Princess Celestia ran through the spell's rhyming instructions again in her head, and almost immediately found the problem. "You didn't chant it, Twilight,"

"Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I mean, what's an old timey spell without a mysterious chant?"

While Twilight didn't necessarily agree, she remembered the instructions and conceded that this spell did indeed call for a chant. She turned back to the diamond and tried again.

The jewel was again brought to life by the magic coursing through it. It glowed and began spinning on its point like a top, but soon lost momentum and started to wobble. Twilight kept chanting, but couldn't keep it from falling over. The mauve unicorn sighed determinedly and started again.

When the diamond started to spin this time, Rainbow added her voice, giving the diamond a burst of new energy. It spun faster, and light streamed from every facet.

One by one, the friends joined in the chant, until all six were contributing. The diamond was a blur now, and the ground even started shaking slightly. The princesses nodded to each other and joined their magic to create a protective dome over the area.

The diamond's tip began to drill into the ground as it spun, kicking up dirt and grass as it went. When the top face that had the circle carved into it reached ground level, there was a blinding flash of light, and a much larger circle appeared in the ground, seemingly composed of the same light that dominated the diamond. The new circle was so large, in fact, that it spread beyond the six friends until the smaller circles of the symbol enclosed the princesses themselves.

The arrangement sparked something in Twilight's memory, but she kept her mind at the task at hoof. She would ask Celestia about her connections to the symbol later.

She continued to chant, but she also backed away from the diamond. Her friends followed her lead. As soon as all six were clear of the large circle, the ground cracked down the central "S" line, and the diamond shot into the air, showering the ponies in radiant light. Fluttershy couldn't help but gasp, and the chant broke down. The spell was too far along for it to matter, though; the ground split down the centerline and began to recede toward the outer edges of the circle. Within seconds, the princesses that were caught in the middle of the spell were standing on nothing.

What was inside the circle, however, was not nothing. An inky blackness could be seen, with stars and galaxies blinking in the distance. Amorphous clouds of gas swirled around, and comets and asteroids zoomed by. It was if space had chosen the palace gardens as a doorway to the earth.

From the center of this void, a pure beam of light shot up, connected with the diamond, and was split into six separate beams that arranged themselves before the Element holders. The remaining light coalesced into these main beams, slowly morphing into the shapes of six alicorn ponies. As the shapes began to gain substance and color, the diamond and ground moved to their original positions. The gem stopped spinning, the earth stopped shaking, and the light faded.

The princesses tentatively lowered their dome; it hadn't done much to contain the spell. They turned and faced outward to the newcomers the spell had apparently summoned.

These alicorns were unlike anything anypony there had ever seen. Each one's coat seemed to be comprised of a colored metal, with swirling engravings that traveled the length of their bodies. Their eyes each glowed a different color, and had no pupils or eyelids.

The one now standing in front of Twilight was golden, with light blue eyes. He looked eerily familiar, both to Celestia and the Element of Magic.

Rainbow's was bright, shiny silver with green eyes. The one in front of Applejack looked like bronze, and had purple eyes. Rarity's was an aquamarine colored metal with dark blue eyes. Fluttershy's had a light purple hue, with bright yellow eyes. The sixth, standing in front of Pinkie, was matte gray and had pink eyes.

The only sound for a while was the soft clink of metal as the alicorns examined their new surroundings. The one in front of twilight turned its profile toward her, and she suddenly remembered where she had seen it before.

"The reference guide!" She exclaimed. The princesses looked confused for a split second before they understood, as well.

The metallic alicorn turned its attention to the purple pony. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle," it spoke. Its voice was also metallic, like a robot, but not as monotonic.

Twilight staggered backward. "You…you know me?"

"Of course," came the answer. "We've been watching you six for quite some time."

Celestia decided to regain control of the situation. She boldly stepped up to the golden pony and introduced herself and her sister as co-rulers of Equestria.

"Oh yes, we know," the alicorn said dismissively. "Would you care, then, to talk with us inside, perhaps, Princess?" It gestured to the palace.

Celestia felt uncomfortable; she had never met a pony that stood eye to eye with her. She pulled herself up, though, and led the way in.


End file.
